Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

We understand your need to spruce things up for a winter sale. There's good news and bad news. The bad news first: the plant nurseries are not exactly stuffed with large blooming plants ready for transplanting. The good news is, you don't necessarily have to have flowers to make an attractive show in your garden.

You already have two good ideas in your question: cleanup and mulch. Certainly, begin with the cleanup. If you have a lawn, mow and edge it; here in the Austin area it's probably still green. Pull up any weeds and get them off your property, pick up trash caught in the area, etc. If you have trees or shrubs already, trim any deadwood off, and tidy up the shapes.

Next, you sound as though you need some new planting to jazz up your flowerbed. Let's start with some mid-size native shrubs. You are probably not going to find anything as large and filled-out as the pictures, but some of these could have blooms, and all are evergreen. Pick out plants that are a nice height but not spindly, and plants that have as much foliage as possible. Even if you have no flowers, you will find shrubs with blue-green leaves, leaves with different textures and shapes, and branches that have different shapes. Measure your flowerbed before you go to the nursery, determine how far apart the shrubs need to be planted, and from that you should be able to figure out how many plants you need to buy. We're certainly not suggesting that you buy only these plants, or one of each, or all the same plant. This is just an example of ways to get some height that will show from the street, with contrasts in leaf color and texture, even in the dead of winter.

Cordia boissieri (anacahuita) - a sometime 12-month bloomer

Garrya ovata (eggleaf silktassel)

Salvia greggii (autumn sage)

Scutellaria wrightii (Wright's skullcap)

Leucophyllum frutescens (Texas barometer bush)

The biggest problem you are going to have is locating these plants this time of year. Please refer to our list of Native Plant Suppliers for Texas. You are fortunate to live in the Austin area, because there is a lot of interest in natives, and a number of suppliers. This link will give you 60 suppliers in Texas, and about 10 in the Austin area. Each has a phone number where they can be reached and inquiries made about the availability of plants you are looking for, and they will probably have other appropriate suggestions.

Some of your other ideas, although they would be lovely for long-term landscaping, don't fit your need for haste. Agaves, cactus, and yucca all grow up to be sculptural, impressive plants, but they grow very slowly and need to be purchased quite small, because they are stickery, difficult to handle while you're planting, and can be pretty pricey in larger sizes. The same thing with a xeriscape, it's going to take a while to establish the ground cover and the various plants.

Ordinarily, we would recommend only native plants for this project, as the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is all about landscaping with plants native to North America. However, we have heard that yellow flowers seem to be the most appealing to prospective home buyers, and the only yellow flower we think you have a good chance of finding in bloom right now is the pansy. They are seriously hybridized natives of Europe that can be transplanted this time of year, in bloom, directly into the garden. The link we gave you is a picture of yellow pansies. They are low, but have good foliage and will grow and continue to bloom until well into the spring, hopefully after your house has already been sold.

When you have found the plants you think will fit your needs, get them into the ground as soon as possible. If you get them home in pots and a serious freeze is predicted, let them stay in the garage until the worst of the cold is over. Now, arrange your small shrubs attractively, and as though they are large flowering plants, and fill the space in the flower bed. With the pansies, or whatever other small flowering plant you might find at the nursery, in the front, you're ready for mulch. Mulch will protect the newly planted roots from the cold weather but, even more, it is attractive. Mulching bare earth with 3 or 4 inches of a good quality shredded bark or hardwood mulch will look good as people walk up to your house, often smells earthy and delicious, and presents the impression of a well-cared for property.

Cordia boissieri

Garrya ovata

Salvia greggii

Scutellaria wrightii

Leucophyllum frutescens